Metals

Metal Beads cover a wide range of different natural ore minerals and precious metals, such as gold, silver and platinum. Mixed together, base metals such as copper and zinc made brass and these new alloys had many uses, among them adornment.  Gold and Silver was for Kings, Queens and Pharaohs, while the metal alloys were used to craft jewellery for ordinary people.

There are numerous methods of making metal beads, among them, Stamping, Hammering, Embossing, Granulation, but the most common one found here is the Lost Wax process, this is an ancient African art form. The bead is moulded in wax, the wax covered in clay which is then fired. The hot wax runs out of the mould or is 'lost' and the space left behind is filled with molten metal.  Most common metal beads in Africa are Bronze, Copper, and Silver Alloy.  Bronze Tubular and Bicone metal beads, are cast in the lost wax process. This practice is found in Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Burkina Faso and Nigeria.  Some Nigerian metal Beads are made in a different process of softening brass by heating it and then hammering it into shape.